It’s a Wrap

By Steven Raichlen

It’s a Wrap

Steven, Resolution Pictures, and Maryland Public Television just completed the shoot for Primal Grill 2009. It took 11 days, 18 people, 30 grills, 50 propane tanks, and more than 2 tons of hardwood and charcoal to prepare the 40 dishes that will form the core of the Primal Grill shows. On a typical day, we started at 10 a.m. and continued to 10 or 11 p.m. Here is some of the crew that worked so hard to help make the show happen. (From left to right: lead cameraman Richard Dallet, food prep person Mary Paganelli, chef and culinary coordinator Jeff Clock, food stylist and culinary coordinator, our own Nancy Loseke, Steven, producer Matt Cohen, production assistant Brandon Holthaus, cameraman Terry Williams, sound man Gordon Masters, grill wrangler Andreas Langley, boom camera operator Jonathan Nichols, production coordinator Margaret Sullivan, engineer Claudia Burn, gaffer Paul Stapleton-Smith, and in the foreground, lighting expert Ron Anderson (Many other people, not pictured, helped, too.)

Here’s grill wrangler, Andreas Langley, with a few of the grills we used on set. Andreas’ job was swap out the grills for each segment, make sure all were fully functional, and to keep the fires burning in the smokers and fire pits.

A lot of our shooting was done at night. (Night school was never so much fun!) Here boom camera operator Jonathan Nichols adjusts his camera for those sweeping overhead shots.

Each dish required a new set up on the work table. Here Nancy Loseke and Mary Paganelli prep the set for the next recipe, while Steven and Matt discuss the particulars of the shoot.

Meet the camera men. Richard Dallet (left) with the hand-held camera that gives you the feeling you’re looking right over Steven’s shoulder. Jonathan Nichols, who runs the jib camera (that gives you those sweeping overhead views). Terry Williams (right), who gives you those tack-sharp close-ups allowing you to follow the action ingredient by ingredient.